Management of the nation’s forests will return to the congressional agenda this week as the House again takes up legislation to fight wildfire with forest thinning.
A bill from House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), the “Fix our Forests Act,” H.R. 471, is set to advance to the House floor. It proposes “firesheds” in national forests that could be thinned with fewer environmental restrictions.
In the Senate, Republican John Barrasso of Wyoming, the majority whip, proposed legislation to expand the clearing of trees near electric power lines, among other measures.
And Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) proposed three wildfire-related bills, including legislation to make permanent the pay raise for wildland firefighters included in the Inflation Reduction Act.
